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It has been touched on elsewhere, without any real investigation as has always been assumed it "wouldn't work".
Probably true, but instead of getting on with some work I decided to see how it may look to combine a given number of Australian teams into the ITM Cup.
I settled on six Australian sides for two reasons, it rounds the competition out with twenty even sides and it allows one team for each existing Australian SR location and one overflow side for the East Coast.
Concept allows for an easing in of the Australian teams in the first year, followed by two teams relegating and promoting in future years.
NZ North Island
NZ South Island
Australia
Premiership
Auckland
Bay of Plenty
Brisbane
Canberra
Canterbury
Southland
Sydney
Taranaki
Waikato
Wellington
Championship
Counties Manukau
Gold Coast
Hawke's Bay
Manawatu
Melbourne
North Harbour
Northland
Otago
Perth
Tasman